What Art? - response

Part I

1) Describe the mood of the image(s)  What is the expression on the faces of the models?  What is their posture?

In the first image, the lady has a neutral face, as if she is watching a presentation that doesn’t really affect her emotion. Her back is straight up, and her head is level, emulating a natural posture. In the second image, we see another lady from a different angle. She has her head tilted up, looking down at the viewer, and she has on another neutral face, as if she doesn’t feel anything about what’s going on (or she has a good poker face). There are a lot of brush strokes varying in color, so the artist may not have been painting realistically. The tone of the images is warm thanks to the warm background, and brushstrokes remind me of famous artists painting on warm, foggy nights so I’m getting a feeling as such.

2) Think about technique.  How do you imagine these images were created? Oil paint? Photoshop?

Certain parts of the image look overtly realistic, including the eyes, teeth, and hair of these models. They do not have varying brush strokes like the skin and clothes, so I believe that there was paint on models. The artist did a good job, though, because for a good second I could not tell that these are photographs.

3) Ask yourself what role color plays in the images(?)  Does it accentuate the mood?

In the first image, the contrast between the neon blue and the deep red accentuates the lady, and some may interpret her to be angry due to the surrounding red background and the color red’s perceived connotations. Same with the second image. Some may interpret the second image’s subject as attractive due to the color red’s connotation with passion. These traits stand out to me but with conscious appraisal I believe that the subjects are neutral. However, the neutral colors used accentuate the mood. Like I said, these images remind me of famous painters creating masterpieces on warm, foggy evenings.

4) Finally, what do you think the artist intended to convey with these images?  What response was he/she attempting to evoke?  Do you think the effort was successful?

The artist intended to accentuate the painting nature of the images to distract from the fact that they’re actually photos. They’re attempting to distract the viewer with use of color, contrast, and theme from the true photo nature of the image. I think that to the naked eye, they were successful, because I could not figure out its’ true nature for a bit before realizing that it is actually a photo.